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From its humble beginnings 42 years ago, your horizon has expanded beyond the fourth floor of Manila Doctors Hospital, evolving from an institution of purely nursing students, to a school with over 3,000 — counting five colleges, including senior high school — engraving its mark of excellence, from psychology, to accountancy and business, to arts and sciences, to medicine.

Story of George S.K. Ty

I may not be familiar with your school — and may even feel uncomfortable facing a sea of green — you know blue and green don’t mix, but I do have a reason to be here.

Because behind every great enterprise — including an educational institution as Tytana — is a man with vision, and strong values that are behind your alma mater.
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Tytana expresses Dr. Ty’s profound belief in the value of education to our youth, and its contribution to nation building. ‎‎This conviction flows from the values of Doña Tytana herself — thrift, honesty, hard work, discipline.
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I met Dr. Ty upon my return to the Philippines late 1998. He has been, for almost for 20 years, our group’s main banker, supporter, mentor — and last year, a partner in business.
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The abiding lesson we all should learn from him is that education does not end with graduation. Instead, education is a continuous, life-long process. Your real education, in fact, starts when you leave the gates of this school. That’s why today is named your day of commencement — a beginning. Dr. Ty himself learned banking first hand — the hard, hands on way — as he built Metrobank to become one of the largest Philippine banks and one of the strongest in Asia. He is indeed the taipan of Philippine banking, and its titan.

Dr. Ty's capacity to learn never diminished, but instead grew over time and went beyond banking and finance. His holding company, GT Capital, is one of the largest publicly listed companies in the Philippines. It owns Toyota and AXA Philippines, property companies, and major infrastructure where we are partners.

You should, therefore, bring with you the life-long lessons from Dr. Ty — one of the best businessmen our country has ever produced.

My own story

Dr. Ty’s story, and values, resonate in my own life.

I grew up in Little Baguio, San Juan. Our house stood right on the boundary of a squatter settlement. From my bedroom window, I could see, smell, and feel the lives of the poor, and see its face.

My lolo started as a public school teacher in Pampanga, rising through the ranks to become superintendent of public schools and eventually, secretary of education — despite the fact that he did not finish college.

My father began his career as a messenger at Philippine National Bank. My mother was a simple housewife.

Kaya ang pahiwatig ko sa ating mga mag-aaral ay ang inyong pinag-aralan, at pagsisikap, ay susi sa inyong tagumpay. My education played a big role in my life — just as it will in yours.

After seven years here, I flew to Hong Kong believing I was young enough to make mistakes, to be independent and accountable to myself and my career. I knew that if I waited any longer, I’d be too afraid to take risks. I formed First Pacific in 1981 starting from a rented space — 50 square meters, no bigger than your typical classroom — with a team of only six people using modest start-up capital.

Three decades later, First Pacific has turned into a regional conglomerate, employing more than 100,000 people in various parts of Asia.

Secrets to success

A few years back, I was asked to return to the Ateneo to deliver the commencement address. I found myself talking about my past and the young graduate’s future. And I let them in on the greatest secret of all — that when it comes to success, there are no secrets, no magic, no mystery.

I told them that success springs from old-fashioned values — values as fundamental as being honest and truthful — with yourself and with others. And so is being diligent, hard-working and disciplined.

These in fact, were the values implanted in you by Tytana — that is why class 2017 is said to be distinctive in being focused, determined and willing to listen. Several years from today, when you look back at your experience at Tytana, I am sure that you will appreciate and remember your lovely walk in Boracay, and the crowded benches where you change your shoes — which we can start to call Marikina. And don’t forget your strict main lobby guard Rhodora Gutierrez and administrative assistant Chris Valiente.

But most of all, success is about passion — passion to succeed, passion for excellence. Passion to compete. There are many of you here who were born poor, but have succeeded in graduating today, some with honors. The examples of Darren delos Santos, Beatriz Oliva and Marione Yaoyao should lead us to believe that your passion can break the chains of poverty, that a spirit of purpose can propel your energy, that the power of ambition can enable you to achieve what you may now think is impossible.

The new world

We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. This is the world you will meet, as you take your leave of these colleges.

Change has now become the law of life. The tempo of change has accelerated at the turn of this 21st century.

In the world of politics, we’ve seen the rise of populism. The Brexit vote and Donald Trump appear to be parts of global populist movement, reflected in inward-looking, protectionist and nationalist economies. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria wrote: “Populism can mean different things to different groups, but all versions share a suspicion of, and hostility towards elites, mainstream politics, and established institutions. Populism sees itself as speaking for the forgotten ordinary person, and often imagines itself as the voice of genuine patriotism.”

In business, technology is the biggest story. This means living with data and digital, relating with programmers and coders, with IT practitioners, with apps, platforms, and solutions and devices on which they ride — smartphones, laptops, notebooks, wearables, hearables. You should understand the psychology and needs of millennials — of which you are a part — and are now the largest market.

In two years, wireless technology will move to 5G platform, and fiber to the home will be ubiquitous. Internet of Things and artificial intelligence will soon come — changing profoundly our work and our lives.